For Love of a Skywalker
by AuraThundera
Summary: Alternate Universe. Leia is not Luke's sister, Luke is really a prince, and how he came to know of his noble birth much later.
1. Part I: Padme Amidala

For Love of a Skywalker Part I: Padme Skywalker   
Aura Thundera deonii@yahoo.com 

Disclaimer: All Star Wars characters are the property of Lucasfim, and I am making no profit off this. 

Part I Foreword   
This is an alternate universe story where Luke and Leia are unrelated. Luke is the only child of Anakin Skywalker and Queen Padme Amidala of Naboo. The monarchy of Naboo is hereditary as well, making Luke the prince that he was meant to be. It was always unfair that Leia got to be a princess, but Luke was just a Tatooine farmboy. The story begins somewhere around halfway through what will be Episode Three. Hopefully, I'll be able to continue it up to and through the story of Union, as my intended stopping point is Luke's marriage.   
How did I dig myself into rewriting almost all of Star Wars? 

Part I: Padme Skywalker 

Padme Amidala cradled the tiny miracle of life in her arms. A son, just like her beloved Anakin. Wisps of blonde hair the color of the Tatooine sands covered the boy's scalp. And his eyes were a shocking ice blue like his father's. He was a tiny Prince of Naboo. Her little Luke. 

Luke cooed and looked at his mother out of wide blue eyes. Padme couldn't resist. She cuddled her tiny baby close to her chest and adjusted the soft white silk that wrapped him. She wasn't sure what she wanted most for her tiny baby. 

She wanted to mother him and make him a fine prince. She wanted to see him grow up in the same palatial halls as she had. Padme could almost see Luke in his full growth, attired in a soft blue silk tunic, with the Scar of Remembrance painted on his lip. In her vision, Luke was small, like she was. But he was a beautiful man, with almost shoulder-length wavy blonde hair. The Luke of her daydreams had a smile that would make almost any woman melt. 

The second possibility was that Luke might show a talent for using the Force, if he'd inherited his father's powers. But if Luke was Jedi-born, he would be taken to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant when he was half a year old. It nearly broke Padme Amidala's heart to think that her beautiful baby boy might grow up away from her. Of course, she would be allowed to visit him at the Temple from time to time, but it would not be the same. But she could picture Luke as a Jedi, his hair short for convenience, wrapped in the black robe of a Jedi Master. 

"You'll be a lady killer when you grow up, my little Luke," Amidala whispered. "Just like your daddy when he was a padawan." 

Amidala cuddled Luke close and sat down. Once, Anakin had gently probed her to see if she had any power in the Force. As it turned out, she did have some power in the area of prophecy. If she stilled herself and opened her mind to the Force, she sometimes received visions of the future, with startling veracity and clarity. Luke, Padme thought. Show me my son. 

A vision swam into being before her closed eyes. What Padme Amidala saw in her visions was the future as her own eyes would see it. Rather than a grandmother's view of tiny babies that she had hoped for, a startling vista filled her eyes. A grand hall on Coruscant spread below her, shimmering slightly. She stood in the far back, in a balcony of some sort. 

Three men, two women, two small boys and a girl stood on the dais at the front of the room. The three children bore some sort of box between them. One of the men, draped in Jedi robes, was obviously there to officiate. The second man was obviously an attendant to the third. He wore a simple formal suit. 

Amidala realized that she was watching a wedding, but whose? If it was Luke's, why was she not on the dais with him? The third man stood tall and proud, wearing a blue formal shirt with black pants beneath the flowing black cloak of a Jedi Master. A small gold crest-pin gleamed in the folds of his cloak at his throat, but she was too far away to see the design. His golden hair was longish and wavy. He had dazzling ice blue eyes and a sweet smile, but his face was marked by faint, old scars. With a pang, Padme realized that he was her tiny son Luke. 

A stunning redhead in a green gown faced Luke across the dais. Her attendant was a regal woman with long brown hair who reminded her of Bail Organa. The first woman's green eyes gleamed with love and devotion for Luke. Padme's little son had found himself a definite keeper of a wife. 

Parts of the vision disturbed Amidala. If that was indeed her little Luke Skywalker, Prince of Naboo, up there getting married, where was the heavy gold headpiece worn in marriage by every Nubian Queen and Queen-to-be? Luke's bride was not wearing it. And Luke himself lacked the Scar of Remembrance painted on his lip that every Nubian royal wore when being married. 

The room itself disturbed her. It was much larger than any chamber on Naboo, which must be why her son was being married on Coruscant and not on his homeworld. And the room was full of very important looking beaurocrats, the sort who never took any notice of Naboo whatsoever. But they swept into the hall, looking expectant. As though this wedding was an important event that they might have been left out of. But why? Why would they care if Naboo's prince and a minor Jedi Master was being married? 

Or did it have something to do with her son's chosen bride? Was she the princess and heir to some important world somewhere in the Core Systems, that she was of such importance? Padme Amidala wondered. She was worried about the future and her tiny son's place in it. Is he destined to leave Naboo to rule some Core World? Would he abandon the pure beauty of Naboo for a bigger, more important world to rule? 

"Padme! Padme, come quick!" Amidala heard a voice calling from the hall below the small nursery, disrupting her vision. The images of her full-grown son wavered and vanished. 

"It's me, Obi-Wan!" The voice shouted again. "Grab what you can, Padme. We have to leave Naboo as soon as possible! I raced the Emperor's fleet here to speak to you!" 

"It's come to that, then," Amidala said, rising from her chair, face calm, her soft casual-gown trailing her graceful movement. "Palpatine has seized control of the Republic and is returning to gloat at me. I can take that he rose from our people, that he duped the Nubians. I took responsibility for things like this when I took the throne." 

"No," Obi-Wan said, racing to her side. "It is worse. He has built the foundations for his New Order, and the people willingly follow him, glad to see an end to the endless beaurocracy of the Republic. The idealistic are his crusaders. My news is that Anakin is in the entourage of the Emperor. He has been turned, Padme. There was nothing I could do; I challenged him and left him for dead. The Light is lost to him. Emperor Palpatine must have saved him somehow." 

"Anakin is of the Dark Side now, Padme," Obi-Wan said. "He serves the Emperor's will in all things. And the Emperor has foreseen that the Naboo and his own children will be a threat to his power. Anakin comes to eliminate that threat. We must leave now if you and your son are to survive." 

Amidala cradled her tiny son to her chest. Her face became deathly pale. "It is worse than I thought, then. My cruiser is in the hangar and it is ready to make an escape. As it always has been since we escaped the Neomoidians' blockade and fought their invasion off. It seems so long ago, now...but I cannot run. I am Queen of the Naboo." 

"My queen, we must go," Obi-Wan Kenobi begged. "Every second you delay, the fleet comes nearer. The Emperor saw truly. Your son is the only hope of the people of the galaxy. He is Jedi-born, destined to defeat the Emperor's evil schemes. Luke Skywalker must remain safe." 

"I cannot abandon my people," Amidala said, all Queen now. "I must remain, if Naboo is to be attacked by Palpatine's forces. If my heart has led the people of Naboo to their destruction, then I must face destruction along with them and so must my prince. The people must see that Luke is of the Naboo, that he would face destruction with them, rather than run and live with his father who brought the destruction down." 

"There is no point in being a martyr to a world that will die!" Obi-Wan said. "Come to the hangar now, and bring Luke. It is more important to be mother to the one who will save the living than to be dead! Luke is savior to the galaxy, the true Chosen One, the most powerful of Jedi, beloved hero to the galaxy!" 

"He will be loved by none with the truth of his name known by all!" Padme said. "Luke Skywalker, Living Prince of the Dead Naboo, Son of Anakin Skywalker who destroyed that world! They would revile him, not welcome him to save them!" 

"What the people think is of no consequence to you or Luke," Obi-Wan said coolly. "What matters is that you must do what is right for them, and that means leaving before Anakin gets here to murder you and Luke." 

Obi-Wan would have no more arguments. "You say that the royal cruiser is ready in the hangar?" 

Amidala nodded. 

"Then, your highness, you will go. Now." Obi-Wan took Padme Amidala's arm and led her out of the nursery. "I remember which way to the hangars." 

Obi-Wan Kenobi led the Queen through the halls at a swift pace. Padme found it hard to believe that she was fleeing her home for the second time in her life. And this time, she would not return. Anakin had fallen. And now, she knew, Naboo would fall in his wake. Luke was silent in her arms as she walked, as though he was aware of his father's betrayal. 

I will not look back, Amidala thought. My life as Queen of Naboo is over. Naboo will have no more Queens, no more rulers, after me. 

Queen Amidala climbed the ramp to her cruiser, the pilots summoned by Obi-Wan and Obi-Wan himself following in her wake. She never looked back on the grand halls of Theed Palace. 

And as the gleaming silver craft took off, she did not look back on the lush green hills of her home. 

Once in space above Naboo, Obi-Wan caught a glimpse of the flash that hailed the arrival of the first of Palpatine's scout craft. He told the pilot to go to hyperdrive, and the scene dissolved into starlines and then into the mottled purples and blues of hyperspace. 

After the royal cruiser had entered the safety of hyperspace, Obi-Wan walked back to the main chamber. Amidala probably wouldn't even want to see his face, now that he had forced her to abandon her people to destruction at the hands of a Dark Lord, but he was going anyway. 

Padme Amidala had changed her clothes from the soft white gown of a mother and now she wore the midnight blue gown of a Queen. Her hair was no longer in a simple braid down her back, but was now braided with sapphires and pearls and looped into a heavy, high knot on top of her head. Amidala's face was framed by a silver headpiece that fit over her forehead. A fan of blue feathers rose from the collar of her gown. 

Amidala's gown was a glory in itself. Midnight blue and speckled with tiny sparkling stars, it resembled the depths of space. It was heavy and long, ornamented with onyx beads that matched the weighty beads strung around her neck. The beaded strands held the silver seal of Naboo. Queen Amidala's face had been painted white with its red tear marks and Scar of Remembrance on her lip. 

The only remaining hint of Padme Skywalker was the tiny child she held in her lap. The blonde boy had been swaddled in a sparkling bit of blue cloth that matched his mother's gown. Luke was still, obviously asleep. 

"You say you saw Palpatine seize control from the Senate. Is he in total control now, then? Or does the Senate remain?" Queen Amidala had returned, the consummate politician who battled for the best of her people. "If the Senate remains, there are good people there who will hear me out when I say that Palpatine has attacked us." 

Obi-Wan shook his head. "The Senate remains, but they are as councilors to Palpatine now. He is swiftly becoming an Emperor, and the galaxy will be his Empire. The Senators can speak all they like, but Palpatine will do as he wishes. Anyway, Anakin has become Darth Vader, a Dark Lord of the Sith, and he is supposedly independent of Palpatine. For the time being, at least, Palpatine cannot afford any open association with such evil." 

"But if he consolidates his power and becomes an Emperor as he wishes?" Queen Amidala asked. 

"If he cannot be stopped from consolidating his power further, then we are in dire trouble," Obi-Wan said. "With what he has now, he has muzzled the Jedi. We can no longer address the Senate or the people without imprisonment. He knows that the Jedi have seen through him for a long time and are in motion to stop him. Now that Anakin has fallen into his hands, I do not know what will happen. Anakin was a Master. He knew things that the Jedi Council would prefer Palpatine not know." 

"Then we must move swiftly," Padme said. "The Jedi Council must be told of Luke's existence, if Luke is as important as you say. They will be valuable allies, perhaps the only allies we can count on." 

"You must rest, my queen," Obi-Wan said. "I will arrange for you to speak to the Council. If Palpatine finds you on Coruscant, the Temple may be the only place where you and your son will be safe. The Jedi can guard you and Luke there." 

"Very well. It shall be as you say, Obi-Wan. You may go," Amidala said, and turned away from Obi-Wan Kenobi's face, indicating that she was through speaking to him. 

Obi-Wan sighed and turned around. He could talk more, but Amidala had indicated that she was done listening. Perhaps the Council could convince her that it would be best to disappear and raise Luke in quiet, not to fight for Naboo, which was surely doomed. 

He sat down at the computer and started up the hyperspace comm unit to send the message. On the other end, the call was relayed through the Jedi Temple to the first available member of the Council. Unfortunately, that was Yoda, who Obi-Wan really didn't want to talk to right now. Yoda had been one of the major opponents of Anakin's training. And Yoda had been right. The galaxy would be better off right now if Anakin had been left to the simple life of a Tatooine slave. 

"Told you I did," Yoda grouched at Obi-Wan. "Trouble that one was, I knew. But stubborn you are, like Qui-Gon. Trained him you had to! Hah!" 

"Master, I made a mistake. I was not ready to take a padawan, especially one of Anakin's importance," Obi-Wan said. "I have Padme Skywalker with me. She has borne a son to Anakin, a boy named Luke. I have sensed the power in the boy. He is even stronger than Anakin. Luke is the true Chosen One. The Light in Luke, even as a baby, is blinding, like a beacon." 

"Let Anakin escape, you did," Yoda said flatly. "Student of Palpatine he is now. The Dark Side is his chosen way. You destroyed him not. Let him free to do destruction, you did." 

"Master, that's not the point," Obi-Wan said. 

"My point it is," Yoda replied with a tone of reproof. "Sent you were to turn him or out of the hands of that Sith Emperor keep him. Neither did you do. Turned him further from the Light you did by injuring him." 

"Then the galaxy has become an Empire, and Palpatine has declared himself Emperor in the time that I was gone," Obi-Wan muttered to himself, then spoke up. "But Master, I had no way to know that this Sith Lord Palpatine could return life to what was almost a dead body when I left it. I severed Anakin's arm, and his chest was crushed by a rock! Those wounds would have killed him within moments of when I left!" 

Yoda sighed. "Failed again you have, Obi-Wan. And for it the innocents of the galaxy will pay," He said. "Forget that not. Another chance shall you have, one day. See that you fail not when the time comes. And be sure that know you difference of victory and failure that day!" 

"Will you meet with Queen Amidala? She seeks an advocate for her people, to save them from the war fleet that Palpatine sent under Darth Vader's command," Obi-Wan said. 

"Meet with her we shall. Take all of us to convince her it will," Yoda said. "Stubborn one she is. But also important is the raising of Luke. But bad it is that Anakin taken a name of a Sith Lord has. Turning now out of our hands is." 

"Thank you, Master," Obi-Wan said with a sigh of relief, and terminated the call. 

Obi-Wan got up from his chair and headed in to Amidala's throne room. "I have contacted Yoda. You have been assured a time to meet with the Jedi Council and plead your cause to them if you wish." 

"That is what I intend, Obi-Wan. Do you think that they will not help me?" Amidala said, her voice tuning cold. "The Jedi were created to safeguard the galaxy, or so they say. Would they turn away a humbled Queen come to beg their aid in saving her people? If they would, then the Jedi are unworthy of the esteem this galaxy holds them in." 

"The Jedi exist solely for the purpose of safeguarding the galaxy and ensuring peace. But many of the Council members are also highly gifted at prophecy and related skills. They can sense what the Force wills them to do. And the directions of the Light of the Force are always the highest priority of the Jedi." 

"You are saying that the Force might wish the destruction of Naboo?" Amidala said, her voice distinctly hostile. Except, Obi-Wan knew that her hostility was carefully crafted to hide her rising fear that circumstances were indeed so. To hide her fear that the Jedi Council would indeed do nothing. 

"I do not know the will of the Force myself. The Masters are always saying I can't hear the promptings of the Force over my own bumbling around," Obi-Wan said. "But that may indeed be so. However, there are other considerations." 

"Palpatine has consolidated his power further," Amidala said. 

Obi-Wan nodded. "The Senators are merely his pawns, existing for show. Palpatine is indeed Emperor now. And as such, the Jedi are a threat to him, and so he is a threat to our continued existence. With your husband at his side, there may be no stopping him if he chooses to destroy the Jedi. We can only hope to escape Palpatine's wrath long enough to produce a champion to defeat him." 

"And that champion may be my son," Amidala replied. "What if I say no? I may refuse to let the Jedi have him. I would see to it that he is raised like a Prince of Naboo should be." 

"Padme, I sensed the Light in him. Your son would never be happy in a palace, confined by the silk robes of a prince," Obi-Wan said. "Something within him would forever draw him toward the Jedi...or the Sith, whoever is near who can wield the Force. Its power would pull him in, much as Anakin was drawn to Qui-Gon and myself when we were on Tatooine. You remember his curiosity about all things Jedi when we were there." 

"It was long ago," Amidala said, all Queen. "My people need an heir to the throne. Luke is my only child. I will not let him free of his birth obligation so easily. He is Prince to the Naboo, and with that he will be content." 

"I suggest you speak to the Council on this matter. They know who they intend for the Champion of the Jedi. I am not a confidant of the Council as Qui-Gon was," Obi-Wan replied. The conversation infuriated him. Amidala was a fiercely stubborn woman, a trait that in her son would be valuable, but now in her was a stumbling block. He turned around and began to walk out of the Queen's throne room, intending to go to a bunk and get some rest. 

"I did not give you leave to go, General Kenobi," Amidala's voice commanded. 

"A Jedi need answer to no one but the Council," Obi-Wan replied. "We do not obey any authority except our own." The door swished shut behind him, leaving an infuriated Queen in his wake, clutching the armrests of her throne in a crushing grip. 

Obi-Wan carefully avoided the Queen's presence for the next two days that they spent in hyperspace on the way to Coruscant. He knew that she would be angered by his presence after his deliberate defiance. But it had been necessary. Amidala had to learn that the Jedi were compelled by the laws of the Force alone, and nothing in her power could sway decisions of the Council. 

However, as the royal cruiser put down on a landing pad at the Jedi Temple, it was impossible for him to continue avoiding Amidala. As they walked down the ramp, Amidala was reserved and quiet. Her hair hung in elaborately braided tendrils that sparkled with rubies and carved plaques of the opalescent blue tulis shell common in Naboo's seas. Tulis shell and ruby beads dangled from her headpiece to frame her face. 

The gown Queen Amidala had chosen to face the Council in was red velvet bordered with blue. Elaborate carvings of fantastical mythic beasts, carved from tulis shells, ornamented the hem of the gown. Over the gown, she wore a blue cloak that shimmered with swirled designs embroidered in ruby beads. In her arms, she held her tiny son, swaddled in red and blue velvet. 

"I will take you to the Council chamber," a young padawan said, stepping forward from the group that had greeted them upon their landing. 

"I thank you," Amidala said, gracefully following the young padawan. 

Obi-Wan sighed, wondering about the battle that he knew would be forthcoming as soon as Amidala began to speak to the Council. 

Amidala carefully kept her composure as the young padawan led her to the room at the top of the tallest tower of the Temple. He backed away as the door opened and motioned for Amidala to continue alone. 

Inside the room, a collection of varied beings sat in a circle. She recognized them from the times she had seen the Council members speak before the Senate. 

Mace Windu spoke first. "Welcome, Padme Skywalker, mother of Luke. We are glad to see that Obi-Wan succeeded in getting you off Naboo before Darth Vader's attack." 

"I have not come to address you as Padme Skywalker, the wife of the traitorous Anakin Skywalker. I come to you as Queen Amidala of the Naboo, to request your help for my people," Amidala said proudly. 

"My lady, you have no people to be Queen of. Your husband has become Dark Lord Darth Vader. He has poisoned the air and water of Naboo. Your people are dead and your world will not be habitable, even for recolonization, for at least twenty years," Mace said solemnly. 

"You tricked me into abandoning my people to death. You sent Obi-Wan to force me to break my vows as Queen. My son will grow up without his people and his culture,"Amidala accused. 

"Your vows as Queen of the Naboo are unimportant. There is a more important task for your to fulfill than that of a martyred Queen of a backwater world." Mace began, but Yoda motioned him to silence so he might speak to the enraged Queen. 

"Savior of the Galaxy your son will be. Train him myself, I will," Yoda said. "Strong in him the Force is and already Light is in him. As never was his father. The Chosen One indeed your son is." 

"My son is no one's chosen one. That garbage destroyed the loving man I married," Amidala said. "My son is no pawn for you to use against the Emperor, no chattel for you to destroy his life by binding him to your order. He will be raised as a Prince, as best I can." 

"Do you honestly believe that without the help of the Jedi, either of you will survive?" Mace Windu said calmly. "The self-declared Emperor knows that Anakin is the Destined Father of the Chosen One, who will defeat him. He will take any steps necessary to neutralize and destroy Anakin's offspring. Your little Luke will never know the life of a Prince of Naboo. He will be dead before his second birthday if you leave the protection of the Jedi." 

Amidala was rattled by Mace Windu's calm discussion of the death of her son. Her little Luke, who was now all she had left of Naboo. Tears pricked her eyes. "There will be no safety for me anywhere," she said, "if Palpatine is so determined to see me and Luke dead." 

"Palpatine does not know of Luke's birth," Mace Windu said. "He lied to Anakin. We intercepted his transmission to Anakin's ship. His message consisted of this: the Senate had received a transmission from Naboo. In a terrible accident, his onetime comrade, the Gungan Jar Jar Binks accidentally struck you. You fell down the stairs. The shock caused you to lose your unborn son, Anakin's heir, and during the miscarriage, you bled to death." 

"He came to Naboo to destroy the Gungans for your death," Mace said after a pause. "Naboo was poisoned from the air. Your resort, where he believed you to have died, was bombed out of existence. Anakin will never know that you live, and Palpatine will never know that you two are not dead. Only a small remnant of the Naboo people still live." 

"Even the existence of the Jedi is a threat to his power," Amidala said. "You would be among the first to begin a rebellion against him, because you sense his mastery over the Dark Side powers. Are you not worried?" 

"I have seen what will become of the Jedi," said a voice behind her. Amidala whirled to face a dark woman wearing a tribal headdress with her Jedi Master's robe. "We are doomed to die at Palpatine and Anakin's hands." 

"You speak so calmly of your own death," Amidala spat. "Are the mighty Jedi all cowards then, that they would allow themselves to be destroyed?" 

"We cannot hearten the people against Palpatine now," Adi Gallia said. "Things are actually moving through the government, getting done. Oppression seems far away to them. He is their savior from the decay that was indeed at the heart of the Republic. There is nothing we can do; the ordinary folk are turning against the Jedi now. Some of us will escape, and the Jedi will rise again when the time is right. I have seen it, at the hands of a man who might be the mightiest Master of the Light ever born." 

"You have seen," Amidala said sourly. "But one of Anakin's favorite proverbs is that the future is always in motion. What if you are wrong?" 

"There is always that possibility," the female Master said. "But we will fight to our deaths. And you and Luke will not stay here in the Temple. It is no longer a safe place. Luke will be fostered with a trustworthy man on a backwater in the Outer Rim. You will be given a new identity and a new home elsewhere in the Rim." 

"What?" Amidala shouted. "NO. I refuse it. My son is all I have left of Naboo. I will not be parted from him while I live." 

"Two are more conspicuous than one, my lady," Mace Windu said. "We are not heartless. You will know where your son is and you will be allowed to visit him." 

"But not to know him." Amidala replied. "I will be forced to watch as he grows up, ignorant of the traditions of his people. He will speak his first words to another mother. His Mother's Celebration gifts will go to another." 

"Would you rather see him die?" Mace replied. 

"Perhaps death would be better than living a lie," Amidala said, her voice hard as granite. 

"See through you I do, Padme Skywalker," Yoda said. "Wish your son to live you do." 

Padme's lip trembled. "I would not be a mother if I did not wish for my son to live at any cost to myself, but would prefer to keep him near to me. I would not be a Queen if I did not want to see him know the ways of his people." 

"But the pride that makes you wish him dead rather than raised by another is totally unnecessary," Mace said. 

"My pride is all I have left," Amidala snapped. "I have had everything else taken from me. My homeworld. My people whom I ruled. My husband. And now you would take my son. Would you take all I have left to hold to?" 

"Your pride will see you dead," Mace Windu replied. "If you keep your pride and a high place, you will draw Palpatine's attention and attract your own demise and that of your son. Pride will only see you and Luke in the grave and Palpatine forever on the throne." 

"Very well," Amidala said, cuddling her son. "Have it your way. I have had a vision of my son's wedding. I want to make sure it happens, and I want to be there when it does. But I want to know who you have found to care for my son. It must be someone trustworthy." 

"Do you know that Obi-Wan has a brother?" Mace asked. "Oraun-Wai Kenobi, also trained as a Jedi. He has agreed to take in your son, and he is certain that his wife will be glad. She is infertile, a heavy burden for any woman to bear. He has agreed to play the part of Owen Lars, a gruff and difficult to love Tatooine moisture farmer and Luke's uncle." 

"Oraun-Wai Kenobi?" Amidala asked. 

Mace made a gesture with his hand, and the doors at the back of the room slid open. A tall Jedi who rather resembled Obi-Wan strode into the room. "Oraun-Wai Kenobi, this is Queen Padme Amidala Skywalker and her son Luke," Mace said. 

Oraun-Wai nodded to her. "You're a lovely lady," he said, with a quiet, courteous voice. A soft, friendly smile played at his lips. "It's easy to see how Anakin was so infatuated. And this is your little son that I am to care for." 

Amidala pulled back the swaddlings to expose Luke's face and arms. Luke cooed up at Oraun-Wai, then reached up with a tiny hand to grab the Jedi's nose. 

Oraun-Wai laughed and tenderly disengaged Luke's hand, then looked back at Amidala. "You realize that Luke's life will not be an easy one. I will have to play the role of a gruff, hardened farmer by name of Owen Lars. I won't be able to lavish Luke with the love that a child so sweet deserves. But my wife will love the boy very much. And I will hold my own feelings locked deep. Luke, I think, will always be an easy one to love. May I hold him?" 

Amidala's tears built in her eyes as she nodded and placed Luke in Oraun-Wai's arms. "I see the necessity. He will live an anonymous life among the moisture farmers of Tatooine, where nobody bothers much with enforcing the law. And when he comes of age he will be trained by a Master Jedi for a great destiny. But what is to become of me?" 

"You will be given the name of Miri Avendahl and sent to be a servant to a young, wealthy man on Ord Mantell," Mace Windu replied. "If you can do it." 

"I can," Amidala said. "Every child of the Naboo royalty spent a year in the home of a nobleman, acting as a servant. It teaches humility. And I think I still remember what to do." 

"Good," Mace said. "He is good to his servants. You will have vacation time and enough money to go to Tatooine and see your son." 

"I am grateful," Amidala said. "But if things do not go as you have said, you will be sorry that you ever made me and my son go through this living hell," she snarled menacingly. 

"Obi-Wan will watch over Luke as well as Oraun-Wai. He will live separate, but nearby, on Tatooine. Your son will be safe," the dark woman said. "He must remain safe. He is the hope of the galaxy." 

A tear trickled down Padme's cheek, creating a trail in her makeup. "Must we go to our refuges today?" she asked. 

"No, tomorrow Luke must go with Oraun-Wai to Tatooine and you might as well go to Ord Mantell tomorrow too, because every minute you stay on Coruscant increases your danger. But tonight you can have with Luke," Mace said. "Oraun-Wai, would you take Padme Skywalker to a private room, somewhere quiet?" 

Oraun-Wai nodded. "I'll see to it," he replied, leading Padme out of the Council chamber and into the lift. Once on a lower floor of the Temple, he stepped out of the lift and beckoned to Amidala to follow him. Cradling her child, Amidala followed, keeping her head high and proud and showing no more emotion. 

Then the door shut between Padme Skywalker and Oraun-Wai. At last, Padme gave in to the despair at her husband's betrayal. The tears flowed freely now, causing Amidala's makeup to smear and run, leaving trails down to stain the collar of her gown. Padme Skywalker had many things to cry for: her people; her husband's betrayal, evil and the living death Obi-Wan had confined him to; the never-ending toil of a servant's life to which she would be confined and the loss of her status; and the life her tiny son faced on a poor Tatooine moisture farm. 

Eventually, a tiny coo from Luke brought Padme out of her sadness. She smiled down at her tiny son as she unfastened the top of her gown and allowed Luke to latch onto a nipple and gulp his dinner. 

"Enjoy your dinner, kid," Padme said, her voice a thin echo of itself. "It's the last you'll taste of your momma's milk. I know you'll never remember me, but Oraun-Wai will take good care of you...not that I want to give you to him." 

Luke looked up at his mother and made a soft gurgling sound. His golden hair formed a fuzzy halo around his head. He was a beautiful boy, and it sent a pang to Amidala's heart that she would never see him grow, going from cute baby to a handsome man. 

"Oh, Luke," she said, cuddling the child close. "I don't want to lose you." 

Eventually, Padme Skywalker drifted off to sleep. The rising sun of Coruscant woke her in the morning. She looked in the mirror. Her face was a smeared mass of crusted makeup and her eyes were red. All in all, she looked like some bedraggled creature that had crawled out of Naboo's swamps. 

Padme removed the crumpled gown that she'd worn the day before and wiped away her makeup before getting into the shower. As she looked down on the cloth, smeared with red, white and pink, she realized that it was the last time that she would ever wear the heavy ceremonial makeup. One of the last reminders of her life as a Queen was gone. 

After showering, Padme picked up a simple tunic and pants made from common cloth. She made a face at the clothing, then sighed and put it on. She folded up her ornate gown and laid it in the heavy metal chest that the Jedi provided so that she could leave some momentoes for Luke. The chest was Force-keyed only to open for Luke after she closed it. 

Padme looked in the mirror. The clothes belonged to the poor servant Miri Avendahl, but her flowing, glossy hair and proud face did not. Padme let her face droop and show some of the sadness she felt inside, letting the iron control of Queen Amidala drift away. As she did, her face resembled more that of a low-born servant. 

But the hair was still out of place in the illusion of tiredness and poverty. Slowly, Padme tied a red silk ribbon around her hair at her shoulders. From there, she proceeded to braid the heavy mass that reached to her knees until she reached the end. There, she tied a second ribbon. With that done, Padme cut the braid free of her head. 

Padme's neck felt suddenly rubbery from the lost weight. She resolutely coiled the heavy braid, thick as her arm and longer, and laid it in the chest atop her gowns. Also in the box were a collection of a Prince's jewels that she'd had made for Luke when he reached his full growth. While fleeing Naboo, she'd managed to save them. 

When Padme looked in the mirror, she saw a woman with one bad haircut staring back at her. Smiling a little, Padme lifted the shears and proceeded to neaten the cut until her hair was all an even shoulder-   
length. Now she looked like an ordinary servant woman from Ord Mantell. She slowly walked over to Luke's cradle in the corner and lifted out her baby. He was still swaddled in ornate quilted velvet blankets and soft white silk. 

Gently, Padme unwrapped her child. Luke cried a little as the cool air met his soft skin, but Padme swiftly slipped the tiny Tatooine-style shirt and pants onto him. Then Padme wrapped the sand-colored blanket about Luke. 

Luke snuggled down into the Tatooin blanket like a native son of the world. "I hope you'll be happy on Tatooine, Luke," Padme whispered sadly. "Your father was a Tatooin, you know. But I'm a water girl. Naboo is ... was a watery world. It remains to be seen whether you'll be a water boy or a desert boy. If you're a water boy, you'll be forever unhappy on Tatooine." 

Luke cooed, evidently liking his new clothes. He was beautiful in the pale rose light of the Coruscant sunrise, his blonde hair, pale skin, and blue eyes shining. 

Give me another vision, Padme thought, kneeling in the center of her room. Give me hope that I will be reunited with my son when he is grown. Please tell me that he will know me and learn of his true heritage. 

Suddenly, Padme saw what she'd wished to. In her vision, her adult son, barely taller than she was, was holding her arms in a tight grip. His blue eyes held an accusation, of something which she was sure was not her fault. Behind him stood his wife, protectively shielding a tiny bundle with her body. 

What happened next startled Padme out of her vision trance. The words that adult Luke spoke to her burned themselves deeply and painfully, forever branding her heart. 

"Who in Sith are you, old woman?" 

Padme crumpled to the floor, tears streaking her face. So her tiny son would not remember her at all, then. She cradled Luke close, treasuring her last few moments with him. Soon Oraun-Wai would be knocking on the door, and destiny would part them. 

True to her thought, there was indeed a knock at the door. Oraun-Wai Kenobi stood there. His appearance had changed to that of a scruffy Tatooine farmer, wearing a different, sand-colored robe and blue pants and shirt. 

"I've come for Luke," he said. "My ship leaves for Tatooine in twenty minutes. Would you like to come with me and carry Luke to the landing pad? You don't have to." 

"I will," Padme replied. "It will give me a few more minutes to try to say goodbye to Luke. But I don't think I ever will be able to say goodbye to him." 

"I promise to love and cherish the boy, and I know my wife, Beru, will," Oraun-Wai said. "And to protect him as best as I can. You do understand that I will have to be harsh with the boy sometimes, to hide his power from him and the Emperor until he comes of age to use it." 

"I understand," Padme said. "I do not wish to see anyone being harsh with my son, but these are not good times we live in." 

Oraun-Wai saw a single tear drip onto Luke's swaddlings, but Padme refused to show any outward sign of the heartbreak that she had to be feeling. 

When they reached the landing pad, Padme Skywalker had to give Luke to Oraun-Wai. She laid the tiny bundle in Oraun-Wai's arms, then wiped away her tears. 

"You have the trunk that I left for him?" Padme asked. 

Oraun-Wai nodded. "After we left, two padawans carried it down. It's good, solid, thermosealed steel. It should stand up to Tatooine's climate just fine." 

"Goodbye, Luke," Padme said, stroking her son's cheek. "I hope someday I might know you again. But wherever you go and whatever befalls you, I will always love you." 

"Goodbye, Padme...I mean Miri," Oraun-Wai said. "May the Light of the Force surround you on Ord Mantell and guide you back to your son on the day that Palpatine is no more." 

Padme smiled at him through her tears. "May the Force be with you, Oraun-Wai...now please leave before I take my son back." 

Oraun-Wai smiled. "As you wish," he said, and walked up the ramp to disappear into his ship. The hatch closed behind him. 

As Oraun-Wai's ship took off, Padme sank to the ground. She was crying again. Padme had thought that she had cried out all her tears the night before, but she had been wrong. Then she had had Luke for comfort, to hold in her arms. Now, Luke was gone, and she cried for the loss of her child. Her little Luke, who had seemed to light rooms by his presence, was gone. 

Padme turned, still sniffling, from the launchpad and lugged her bag. She was headed for the commercial spaceport to catch her transport. An occasional tear ran down her face, but Padme gulped back her sobs. 

Padme felt no real need to say goodbye to Obi-Wan. If it wasn't for that failure of a Jedi, Padme thought wrathfully, none of us would be in this mess. Anakin, Luke and I would be a family. At home, on Naboo. She ignored the fact that without Obi-Wan, she probably never would have even met Anakin, and therefore never had Luke. 

Padme hailed an aircar on one of the many plazas around the Temple. As the massive pyramidial shape of the Jedi Temple receeded behind her, Amidala did look back. Maybe she was trying to catch a glimpse of Oraun-Wai returning for some unknown reason. Even Padme herself did not know. But the spaceport and the concerns of a servant of a Mantellian lord soon returned to Padme's list of major worrries. 

Once offloaded at the spaceport, Padme found the battered old passenger transport without too many problems. However, when signing the register, it took a considerable effort to sign the name of Miri Avendahl. Padme sighed as she looked at the wavery signature, supposing that she had better get used to being Miri. 

Padme hefted her bag and headed to her assigned bunk on the transport. She was sharing the room with four other women. She settled her belongings and then left to look around. Miri easily found the mess hall where she would eat on her way to Ord Mantell. Other than that, there was not much in the ship. She returned to the bunk room. 

Miri sat on her bunk, daydreaming of Anakin and the palaces of Naboo. So lost in dreams was she that she failed to notice the arrival of another woman. The other woman was a tall, pretty redhead with blazing green eyes. 

The shrill cry of an infant the age of her little Luke jolted Miri out of her reverie. She looked up to see a beautiful redheaded woman holding a tiny baby against her breast. 

"Who...?" was all Miri could get out past the threatening tears. 

"Me? I'm Moira Jade and this is my daughter Mara," she said, sitting on the bed beside Miri. "This ship isn't fit for a garbage scow. To think that I was once called Lady Jade and traveled in luxury." 

Miri nodded agreement. "What happened to you that you're going to Ord Mantell in this trash heap?" 

"My husband," Moira said, bowing her head. "He was Lord Ruler of Khonsu Province on Toriya Prime. Palpatine had him executed for allowing a Jedi Academy in Khonsu and refusing to dissolve the Academy. I'm Force-strong, and I wasn't about to stick around and give Palpatine another target, so I took a job in Lord Tanas Lai's house as a servant." 

"Tanas Lai? I'm going there too," Miri said, startled. 

"Good, then we'll be friends. I have a feeling that you came from better circumstances than an ordinary servant, so I can talk to you and you'll understand," Moira said. "Let's hear your story." 

"It's much the same," Miri said. "My husband was a Jedi. Palpatine took him from me. My son is Force-strong, and the Jedi sent him away from me to live somewhere in the Outer Rim where Palpatine can't get to him." 

"Your mind is shuttered tight, Miri..." Moira said. "I think that there's more to this than you're letting on, but I won't press you for it." 

The ship shuddered beneath Miri and Moira as it left the atmosphere of Coruscant behind. The days in hyperspace were difficult for Moira. There was nothing to do but talk to her newfound friend, and she had to be careful to avoid all talk of her life as Queen Padme Amidala Skywalker. 

Miri clutched Moira's hand in nervousness as they disembarked. Tanas Lai had sent a speeder for them, and she was not sure what to expect. They looked around. The only speeder in the vicinity was a luxury model, but it was marked with the garnfish crest of Tanas Lai's house. The two women approached, hoping to ask directions to their own speeder. 

A tall young man with a flow of white hair stepped out of the speeder. From the picture that Obi-Wan had showed her, Miri knew that this was Tanas Lai himself. 

"Are you two Moira Jade and Miri Avendahl?" he asked in soft, gentle tones. "I regret that you came so quickly, or I would have arranged for better transport for you. That scow is not fit for transporting womp rats." 

"We are," Moira replied, her voice squeaky with nervousness. 

"There's no need to be afraid of me," Lord Lai replied. "I think you two will do nicely. You see, my wife is pregnant and she wanted two well educated servants to tidy her rooms and keep her company when I am away on buisness. I see you have a child, Moira. My wife will like to see her." 

Miri smiled. This lord was not so bad after all. And the work would be light. Lord Lai motioned them into the waiting speeder. The city flashed past, and they emerged into the beautiful countryside. The grassy plains reminded Miri of Naboo, and she gasped. 

"Is something wrong?" Lai asked. 

"It's beautiful," Miri breathed. "Like my home." 

"The grasslands here were always my favorite part of this planet," Lai said. "That's why I chose to locate my home here." 

The speeder eventually passed between two posts marked with the Lai crest, evidently marking the boundaries of the Lord's estate. A large but comfortable looking house was visible in the midst of pleasant gardens. Some small children were visible, running amidst the flowerbeds or splashing in the shallow pools. 

"Welcome to my estate," Lai said. "On the maps, it's called Taalora. Here, we call it the Village of Fountains, because that's what this really is; a village. No one here is a servant, truly, even if I pay their wages. You are all free to roam where you will on the grounds on your free time. You'll be given a cottage...would the two of you like to room together?" 

Miri looked at Moira, and they nodded in tandem. 

"Very well," Lai said. "Follow me." 

He led them to a small, peaceful-looking thatch-roofed cottage. Inside was an airy living space and two bedrooms. In the middle of the tiny house was a courtyard with a quietly gurgling fountain ornamented with fantastic beasts and at the top, the miniature image of a crowned female Jedi, seated in quiet meditation. 

Miri and Moira settled easily into their jobs staying with Lady Lai. Lady Lai wanted companionship more than anything, and that Moira and Miri were glad to provide. Life for them continued in this peaceful pattern for many years, even as the Empire rose and good people fell. The Emperor respected Lord Lai, for he owned many shipyards that produced excellent capital ships of which Palpatine was fond for his own transportation. 

On Tatooine, Owen Lars laid the tiny baby Luke into the arms of his infertile wife Beru. Beru loved the tiny child from the moment that Owen said that the boy was hers to keep and raise. Owen played gruff, but in truth, the small, sweet-smelling bundle with the halo of fuzzy blond curls was very dear to him. 

Years of peaceful life passed for Luke, and he would grow from baby to young boy before anything would trouble the quiet but difficult life on Tatooine. 

Continued in For Love of a Skywalker Part II: Owen Lars   



	2. Part II: Beru Lars

For Love of a Skywalker Part 2: Owen Lars   
Aura Thundera deonii@yahoo.com 

Author's note:   
This is the shortest part of this story, but it may well deal with some of the most important pieces of the plot. It is also the last piece that I have completed on my hard drive. The next three pieces (Leia, Tionne and Mara) are longer than this-at an average of 40 handwritten pages. 

Miri Avendahl was sitting in the garden. Lady Lai was watching the fountain and softly discussing fashion with Miri. Moira Jade had the day off and was teaching her daughter how to do simple embroidery. Moira was glad enough to do her job keeping Lady Lai company when Moira had those quiet, beautiful mother moments with her daughter Mara. 

Sometimes the mere sight of little Mara was enough to force Miri to flee the room. Queen Amidala's memories of her tiny, sweet-smelling son would surface and knife her heart. She had never gotten up the courage to make the trip to Tatooine. She was afraid of being recognized by some Imperial patrol and hauled before Anakin-Darth Vader, she reminded herself. If that happened, all would be lost. She had seen the destruction that Palpatine had done. 

There was one hope, she had finally come to realize. The salvation of the galaxy and the restoration of the Jedi rested on one man, the Chosen One. Padme Amidala Skywalker's son, the lost child whom Miri Avendahl mourned but spoke little of. 

A small silver speck shot past in the sky above, holding a circling pattern toward the landing pad a kilometer to the south. Miri instantly recognized it as a ship. 

Lady Lai noticed the speck too. "Let's go to the launchpad! Tanas is coming home early, so something must have happened. I hope that it's good news that he brought home for us!" 

"Wait," Miri said. "That wasn't Lord Lai's ship. Lord Lai uses a YT-1300, and that was a Lambda shuttle, like the Empire uses. I remember seeing them on the holovids." 

"You're right...it didn't look like Tanas' ship. Maybe I better call the landing pad and find out what's going on from the crew down there," Lady Lai said. 

"South Landing Field, what's going on down there?" Lady Lai asked. The only response that came from her comlink was a faint hissing of static and a few muffled grunts. 

Miri clutched the hem of her tunic and twisted, suddenly nervous and afraid. Anakin was part of the Empire now. What if he'd traced her here? She might only be bringing death and destruction on the quiet and caring community that had sheltered Queen Amidala when there was nowhere else so nice to hide. If she was forced to flee this quiet home, Miri/Padme knew she would not recover. She would miss Moira Jade and even Moira's little daughter. She would miss Lady Lai, and all the others. 

"Answer me!" Lady Lai shouted. The comlink only relayed frantic grunts and moans. Frantically, she keyed a new sequence into the comlink, this time for the small security force that was maintained on the estate. 

Miri clenched her hands. If it was Anakin...Vader...there would be nothing that security could do. And it was all her fault. 

"Lady," the voice of Garric, the head of security, issued from the comlink. "Lady, Imperial troops have taken the landing pad and are fanning out. They seem to be led by Lord Vader. If anyone resists, they are tied up, but not harmed. They seem to be looking for someone." 

Miri hunched up beneath her tree. They were looking for her. And Anakin was here...her shields were as nothing against his power. The secret of Luke's hiding place would be dragged out of her and her son would be betrayed to the Emperor. 

A sob escaped Miri's choked throat. If Luke was not killed outright, he would be trained by the Emperor. Luke would become a Dark Lord, a Sith. That was a fate perhaps worse than dying, Miri mused, that her sweet, Jedi-born son would be perverted to the Dark of the Force. 

Lady Lai got up and stood regally in the garden. "Go back to your cottage, Miri. Moira's little daughter will be frightened by this upheaval. Maybe you can help her." 

Miri nodded and ran toward the cottage. She could see approaching foot soldiers in white armor, that she recalled were called stormtroopers. They were coming toward the cottage. _So be it_, Padme thought. _The best laid plans of the Jedi Council are in ruins now_. 

She remembered the execution of the Jedi Council...all except for Yoda, who had supposedly died soon after the purges had begun. She remembered watching it on the holo, unable not to. She remembered seeing Mace Windu and Adi Gallia fall and dissolve, the images flooding back into her mind. Now it would be her turn to be eliminated for the greater glory of the Empire. 

Inside the cottage, Moira Jade was cuddling Mara close. The four-year-old child was crying into Moira's tunic. "What's going on?" Moira asked. 

"Imperial troops are here, with one of the major leaders...they're looking for something or someone," Miri said, her face paling. "My husband was one of the great Masters...the Emperor may fear that I have a child. I think they're here for me." 

"Then go, hide in the inner bedroom," Moira said. "My powers and Mara's are small and dormant enough to go unrecognized. Besides, I don't think Palpatine considers me a threat--he let me escape once already." 

Moira didn't need a second urging to try one last-ditch effort to escape Anakin's wrath. She scrambled through the door into Moira's bedroom and shut it behind her. Then she dashed through the second door on the far side, into the small room that held Mara's bed and toys. Miri hunched on Mara's bed and clutched a stuffed feline that Mara had abandoned on the pillow. 

Miri heard the door of the cottage slam back and the rumble of voices. Any moment, she expected to find the door of the tiny bedroom flung open by Vader in that terrifying black armor that he wore to preserve his life after Obi-Wan had nearly killed him. 

Miri lifted her head, the pride of Amidala flaring in her eyes, and mentally cursed Obi-Wan for the millionth time. His bumbling had caused this whole mess. Miri was lifted out of her mental remonstration of Obi-Wan Kenobi by the sudden sound of Moira's shriek. It was wordless, but spoke of pain and terror. Miri's keen ears also caught the sound of Mara's crying, getting softer. 

Vader had indeed come for Moira, sent by the Emperor to deal out punishment for her crimes as Lady Jade. The crime of sheltering Jedi. The Jedi, the light of the universe. Miri supposed that Lady Jade should have been executed for her Rebel sympathies long ago. But to wreak vengeance on Moira's innocent child seemed excessive cruelty, even for the darksider Anakin had become. 

Then the door of the cottage slammed shut, and Miri dared emerge from Mara's bedroom. She hoped that Mara had been left alive. Miri would raise Mara Jade as a service to her dead friend, Moira. Moira, who had understood the pain of seeing one's husband destroyed by the Emperor, was gone. 

Miri entered the main chamber. Moira was slumped on the floor, sobbing but alive! Miri gasped in relief at seeing that her friend had survived what had been done. 

"Moira! Thank the Force you're alive!" Miri shouted. "I heard you scream and thought you were dead!" 

"My baby!" Moira sobbed into Miri's shoulder. "They took my baby!" 

"Mara? Mara's gone?" Miri said, unable to comprehend. "Vader took Mara? Why?" 

"Vader took Mara," Moira said. "He said something about her being strong in the Force and he followed her presence. She was what they came for! They're all leaving now, with my daughter! They'll kill my baby!" 

"Vader came for Mara," Miri said, feeling frozen. "But why would the Emperor send his right-hand man for a child that he intends only to kill anyway? Unless...the Emperor is a Sith...so is Vader." 

"Are you saying that they are looking for an apprentice?" Moira said. "Or a Force-sensitive to produce an heir?" 

"It could be either or both," Miri supposed. 

"**I hate them!**" Moira shouted. "I hope my daughter should die before become a servant or worse, a concubine to that foul Emperor!" 

"There's no choice in that now," Miri said. "I don't like it either. May the Force have mercy upon her and release her from the Emperor, that she may know love." 

They both shivered despite the warm summer day. Somehow, Miri's words rang prophetic, and she knew that she had tapped the prophetic gift that Anakin had long ago showed Padme in the halls of Theed Palace. 

"Miri, I know that you haven't been telling me the truth about yourself ever since we met." Moira said. "I know that you had a Jedi child that you lost, but I think there's more to it than that. Don't worry, I have shields as good as yours. I promise that I will not betray you." 

Miri settled on the couch with a sigh. "I'll tell you the story, to distract you from your pain. You see, I know what it is to have a child taken from me." 

"I knew it!" Moira said gleefully, then remembered that Mara was gone and it was no time for glee, and her face fell. 

"My name is not Miri Avendahl. That is the name that the Jedi Council gave to me to protect me," Miri said, the proud self possession of Queen Amidala returning to her. "My name and title, such as they were, is Queen Padme Naberrie Amidala Skywalker of Naboo." 

Moira sucked in a breath. "You were a Queen?" she gasped. "The Queen. The one who had the most beautiful gowns in the Senate. It was you that all the ladies of Toriya tried to emulate." 

"Is that so?" Padme asked. "Well, even if it was, it is not so any longer. Naboo is no more; it is a dead world." 

"I did not mean to open old wounds..." Moira said, her voice trailing off. 

"It is so old it does not hurt anymore," Padme said. "Anyway, I need to talk about it. My husband was Anakin Skywalker, a very powerful Jedi Master. But he fell to the Dark Side. The emperor seduced him to it, by telling him that his son and I were dead. Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Knight who trained Anakin, fought Anakin and left him for dead, but the Emperor saved Anakin's life. And Anakin became Darth Vader, the Emperor's loyal minion in all things." 

Moira gasped at the sudden reminder of the black-helmeted figure carrying her daughter away and a tear trickled down her cheek. 

"Yes," Padme gave a humorless chuckle, like dry leaves on stone. "My onetime husband took your child. But Obi-Wan helped me escape from Naboo before Anakin arrived in his battle fleet to bomb the coast city where I allegedly died and poison Naboo for allowing me to die. And so all life on my homeworld is dead now. But I escaped with my son, Luke Skywalker, the heir to the crown of Naboo and heir to his father's powers." 

"Why didn't Luke come with you here?" Moira asked. 

"As the Jedi Council put it, two are more conspicuous than one," Padme said. "Luke was sent with Obi-Wan's brother to live on Tatooine. That is why I talk about going to Tatooine on leave, because the family I have there is my son. He doesn't know me, but he is a beautiful boy." 

"I can picture him," Moira said. "If he is like you he is small and handsome, with dark hair and eyes." 

Padme shook her head. "He is small and fair-skinned like me, but otherwise he is like his father. He has every ounce of Anakin's handsomeness, and then something more besides. Luke has blonde hair, the color of Tatooine sand, and ice blue eyes. And there's something else about him," Padme said, "but it's nothing you can define. It's like there's this incredible, pure light inside him, that radiates out from within him." 

"He sounds beautiful," Moira sighed. "I wish that I could meet your son someday. Mara would like to play with him, I know...or would have..." Moira trailed off into her pain. "Now I think I understand how you felt that day back on the old transport. You looked so lonely and hurt...you had just lost your son to a brutal world amid the farmers of Tatooine." 

Padme nodded. "I lost son, husband and position forever that day." 

"I hope that someday the Empire will be defeated," Moira said. "Maybe I will get to know my daughter at least. May the day be soon, I don't think I can bear it." 

"The council's prophecy said that there is at least fifteen years before the defeat of the Emperor, because it must befall at the hands of my son," Padme said. "Or so they told me. They spoke of an old prophecy of a great Master who could walk the sky and would save the Jedi from the gravest peril in which they ever lay. The Council said that they had made the mistake of thinking Anakin to be the destined Master. And only after Anakin betrayed them did they think of his son." 

Moira snorted. "Well, why look at the kid when the dad is a Force-strong Skywalker too, right?" 

Padme looked down. "Why look at the son when the father is a brave boy who saved a planet is more like it. He was a celebrity after he destroyed the Neomoidian ship, you know." 

"I remember hearing about that...I was on Coruscant at the time with my father, and everybody was making this big fuss about the little Jedi kid," Moira said. 

"That was my Ani. We liked each other even then, but he was apprenticed to Obi-Wan Kenobi and I didn't actually see him again until he was almost grown up," Padme said. "But all of us met again on Coruscant to talk about old times. I could not take my eyes off of Anakin, and Ani looked only at me. We were meant to be." 

"I can't believe that the Emperor would pervert a bond like that," Moira said. "You must have bonded in the Force if what you say is true." 

"We were," Padme said. "Ani's end of the bond was severed when he was unaware...Palpatine invaded his mind to do it. The Jedi Council severed my end, because they knew that I would not want to feel the terrible things that Ani was doing." 

"I hope one day the Emperor will die and all can be put right again," Moira said. "I want to see our children together with us." 

"May the Force grant that, friend. But remember, here I am only Miri Avendahl. You must not speak a word of it to anyone else..." 

*** 

A tiny blonde boy, no more than three feet tall, clothed in as baggy white pullover top and too-big leggings laboriously climbed a sand dune in the endless Tatooine desert. Luke seated himself on the crest of the small dune near the south fence of his uncle's moisture farm. 

From here, Luke could watch Tatooine's twin suns slowly sink into the sandy horizon. As the small boy watched the suns sink lower, he began to dream of piloting a swift ship between the stars emerging on the great dark dome overhead. Lost in his imaginary battles against space pirates, he began to make sound effects. Luke never heard his uncle coming up behind him. 

"Daydreaming again?" Owen Lars growled at the boy. "You were supposed to be out at the third ridge vaporators so that I could show you what to do." 

Luke looked at his feet, wrapped in small sand-boots. "'m sorry, uncle," he murmured. "The sky, it's just so big and beautiful. My father flew up there...I bet he had a big fast ship!" 

"Your father was a navigator on a freighter, Luke," Owen said, setting out for the ridge and swinging his lantern. "A large cumbersome ship, and his recklessness got him killed. You should be happy, right here in safety on Tatooine." 

"But Tatooine is so boring!" Luke whined. "Tank says that ships go to every world in the galaxy from Mos Eisley..." 

"Don't whine, Luke," Owen reprimanded. "You have no reason to go to Mos Eisley. It's full of thieves and rabble. I'm amazed that your friend Tank's parents take him along when they go there. It's a dangerous place." 

"Tank talked about the podraces that they have in Mos Eisley today in school," Luke said. "He got to see one last month when his family went. The pods sound so great...they go fast and fly. Driving one of those would be no different from flying the skyhopper, and you showed me how to do that. I'm sure that I could fly a pod-" 

"Don't say a word about it, Luke! Not a word, it's bad enough that I taught you to fly the 'hopper, because you're really too young!" Owen said, panic in his voice. _The Empire would surely hear of a human boy who could fly pods. Luke must not betray his existence, he thought._ "Podracing is dangerous, do you hear me? Even the spectators sometimes get hurt by debris." 

Luke bowed his head and trudged up to the malfunctioning vaporator. Slowly, his feelings crushed, he began to disassemble the malfunctioning pump mechanism. Under his uncle's watchful eye, Luke cleaned the interfering grains of sand from it, then reassembled it. 

Owen tested the boy's workmanship, and the pump growled to life and sent water coursing back to the collecting tanks. He decided to reward the boy with some praise for his quick work. And maybe help persuade the boy that farming was not all bad. If Luke was happy, it would be easier to keep him on the farm until he was ready for training. 

"Well done, Luke. You have a gift for this," Owen said. "You will make an excellent moisture farmer someday." 

"I'm not gonna farm," Luke said defiantly. "I want to be a pilot, even if it's just a smelly freighter like my father. I just want to see the stars." 

_Luke still seems resistant to the idea of being a farmer. How am I ever going to keep the kid out of the Imperial academies? A boy like Luke would be a cannon fodder pilot to the Empire. He'd be dead in the first space battle_, Owen thought, _and he is too valuable for that. He **must** fulfill the destiny of the Chosen One_. 

"Come along, Luke," Owen said, beckoning for the boy to follow him. 

Luke followed his uncle back to the house, walking into the warm glow of the dining chamber where his Aunt Beru had dinner waiting for them. It was only cabbage soup, but it tasted good enough to Luke. He sat down and devoured his bowl without talking. After he had finished and stood up, he carried the bowls to the kitchen for his aunt. 

"Thank you for helping me, Luke," Beru told him. "Go to bed now, you've got school in the morning." 

Luke nodded and swiftly dashed into his room to grab a sleepshirt, then ran into the small household fresher. There, he took off his clothes and slipped the large shirt over his head. It came almost to his ankles, and hindered Luke as he attempted to clean his teeth. 

Luke managed, though, and went back to his room. His bed was built into a comfortable alcove in the adobe wall and covered with old blankets. But the faded colors of the blankets did not bother Luke since they kept him warm through the chill Tatooine night. 

"I bet my father was a brave pilot," Luke murmured dreamily as he lay down in the bed. "And if he wasn't dead, he'd take me out on his ship with him, to see the stars. I bet he could even take me to meet a real Jedi Knight! He'd let me try a podracer too...Tank said that there was a plaque at Mos Eisley commemorating another human boy who raced pods." 

Luke lay silently down and went to sleep and drifted into pleasant dreams of a man with his hair and eyes. The tall man cradled him gently, but then he was falling, falling. A red glow and a black face loomed out of the darkness. Luke woke in a sweat. 

Morning dawned on Tatooine with the usual fierceness of the binary system. Luke was out on the flats, working on a clogged filter in a vaporator. Once when he looked up to rest his hands, he spotted a landspeeder, streaking across the plain from the direction of Anchorhead. As he watched, it seemed to turn toward where he sat by the vaporator. 

Luke picked up the electrobinocs he kept with him at all times. They were meant to be used to spot approaching Tusken Raiders, but now he turned it on the approaching speeder. 

There was an unfamiliar woman sitting alone in the speeder. It wasn't Biggs' mother; and Mrs. Darklighter was usually the only one who ever came to visit them. Deciding that he didn't like this turn of events, Luke quickly scrubbed off the filter and replaced it. Then he dashed back in between the dunes nearby so that he was out of sight. From there, Luke dashed across the flats near the farmhouse and ducked into the stairs as fast as his short legs could carry him. 

"Uncle Owen! Aunt Beru!" Luke shouted. "Someone's coming! From the South!" 

"Who is it?" Beru asked. "Tania Darklighter wasn't going to come today." 

Luke shook his head. "I don't know. I've never seen her before." 

Owen snorted. "It's probably Tania. The boy is dreaming of some crazy adventure again." 

Beru glared at Owen. "It could be-" 

"Not in front of Luke, Beru," Owen chastised. 

"Luke, go to your room," Beru said. "If you're needed, your uncle will come get you." 

Luke marched sulkily off to the small room. He heard a speeder stop outside, but wasn't sure that he wanted to look out. Whoever it was, it had Uncle Owen scared. And that didn't sit well with Luke. The only other things that made his uncle afraid were sandpeople and Luke's safety. 

Out in the common room, Luke could hear voices rising and falling in what sounded like a soft argument. After several hours, the door to Luke's room slid open. Aunt Beru entered. 

"Someone is here to see you. Your uncle forbade her to see you, but for her sake, I will sneak you out. Do not be surprised at...anything that happens. I can't tell you more. If you accidentally let it slip to your uncle, he will know I told you," Luke's aunt said. 

Luke followed his aunt out into the desert. She led him up into the dunes by the ridge, where the unfamiliar speeder was parked. A small woman, clothed in ragged white clothes stood by the speeder. Her dark hair was pulled back into a utilitarian plastic clip. She had large dark eyes and an exotic but worn beauty that even Luke noticed. 

"Luke!" she said, softly, but with a distinctly yearning tone. Uncertain, Luke hung back, clinging to his aunt's hand. Padme held out her arms to her small son, aching to feel him nestling against her breast. His small golden head and delicate body was the form of a prince, as she had known it would be. 

"It's all right, Luke," Beru said. "You don't have to let her hold you if you don't want to." 

Tears dripped from Padme's eyes. So, the vision was indeed true. _Even while still tiny, Luke has no memory of the life of a prince,_ Padme thought. _So be it. I had hoped that his powers somehow... but he was just an infant when he was taken from me. I shouldn't have expected him to run into my arms and call me "Momma"._

"Maybe I should leave. It will be better for Luke this way, if he has no memory of me," Padme said, watching the tiny boy as he sat at the foot of the sand dune. 

Beru shook her head. "Owen tried to warn you, Miri. We are all he knows. But thank you, so much. You can't imagine what it was to have Owen lay a tiny, cooing bundle in my arms and tell me that this beautiful, tiny child was mine to raise." 

"I have seen the joy in the face of my friend Moira as she raised her daughter," Padme said, looking up at the stars glimmering in Tatooine's evening. "And I have seen that there is no justice in the galaxy, with neither a Republic or an Empire. The same greedy fools rule always, and to them love means nothing." 

"May Luke always know love," Beru said. "I hope that I can watch as he learns what it is to love another, but we are in mortal danger from the Empire. Owen knows that our time is limited here and we cannot guard Luke forever." 

"The mistake of the Jedi was training too young," Padme said. "Those children of the old Order never knew what it was to feel, to understand how destructive anger can be on their own. I would have done much to spare my son that path, although this is a road no one would willingly choose, no matter what the end." 

"All will be well," Beru said. "All must be well, for the sake of the galaxy." 

"Then I suppose that I must do what is best for the galaxy," Padme said dryly. She turned to the speeder, and it disappeared among the dunes, heading for Anchorhead. 

To be continued in For Love of a Skywalker Part 3: Leia Organa   



	3. Part III: Leia Organa

For Love of a Skywalker

Aura Thundera deonii@yahoo.com

Part 3 notes

This story makes a considerable time jump of approximately 13 years.  It is set somewhere between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back.  Luke is a young man now, flying as Rogue Leader for the Rebel Alliance.

Disclaimer:

These characters aren't mine and I'm not making any money off this.

Part III: Leia Organa

            "Damn," Wedge said as Rogue Five exploded in a bright fireball.  "Luke, Hobbie, we'd better get out of here!"

            "Right, Rogue Two," Luke said.  "Prepare for hyperspace on my mark."  He banked hard over the bridge of a nearby Star Destroyer to lure a particularly stubborn trailing squint into Hobbie's firing range.  The TIE Interceptor dissolved into a cloud of fire.

            "Ready, Rogue Leader," Hobbie said.  "We'd better get out of here soon, or we'll be toast in space."

            "Now!" Luke shouted in a break in the hail of turbolaser fire from the second Star Destroyer.  He pushed the hyperdrive lever forward.  A sinking feeling settled in Luke's gut as he watched Two and Three vanish into the safety of hyperspace.

            Luke's X-wing remained in realspace, over a very hostile Star Destroyer.

            "Artoo, what's wrong with the hyperdrive?" Luke asked.  The small droid twittered and hooted in his socket behind the cockpit.

            The twitters from Artoo ended abruptly in a despairing moan.  The translation that scrolled across the screen informed Luke that a power coupling had burned out and the hyperdrive was inactive.

            The X-wing abruptly shuddered, ending Luke's conversation with Artoo, and began to draw nearer to the Super Star Destroyer that had just arrived.  Luke bowed his head.  He was well and truly caught.

            Luke brushed his fingers over the small transponder implanted behind his right ear.  He could activate a homing signal from it, or with a different signal, release a poison that would kill him.  Luke's youthful face set with the certainty that he would not allow the Empire to learn anything of the Alliance.

            When the X-wing touched down, Luke felt his first pang of fear.  The canopy of the X-wing  was swiftly opened by a group of stormtroopers.  They pulled Luke from the cockpit and swiftly clasped binders about his wrists.

            Luke did his best to stay calm as he was marched into the detention block of the Star Destroyer.  Eventually, the tropers left and the door slid shut.  Luke lay down on the hard bed and waited to be executed.

            He did not dare to activate the homing beacon, not yet.  News of his capture needed time to reach the base.  Anyway, from here Imperial techs could trace the signal back to the Rebel base.

            Luke laid back to wait for an opportunity to escape the cell block.  He did not have long to wait.

            Luke was singing a child's song from Tatooine about a Jawa and a dewback when the cell door slid open.

            A black helmeted figure entered the small cell.  Luke drew back upon recognizing Ben's murderer.  To make it worse, the black-caped murderer held Luke's father's lightsaber in his hand.  Luke gritted his teeth.  _How dares that murderer touch the pure blade of my Jedi father?_ Luke wondered.

            "So, you are the boy who destroyed the Death Star," the black figure said.  "The Emperor felt your power as you destroyed his battlestation.  As I can feel your power now, bright and shining.  I would know it anywhere."

            "So what if I destroyed your master's precious battlestation?" Luke said defiantly.  "Execute me.  Make me into a martyr for the Rebel Alliance."

            "No.  My master, the Emperor Palpatine, sent me to find the boy pilot," the ominous black figure said, its breath hissing through the mask.  "I am Darth Vader, one of his students.  He told me to make an offer to the Rebel boy with the bright, untrained talents."

            Luke turned his back on Vader and refused to speak.  No amount of filthy Imperial credits could make him betray his friends, Han and Leia, Hobbie and Wedge.

            "Boy, the Emperor himself would take you as a student," Vader entreated.  "He understands the power inside you, and he is willing to teach you how to use it.  That is all-you need not betray anyone.  The galaxy would be at your feet to rule after his death.  And the feet of your Rebel friends if you choose."

            "Why should I trust you?" Luke spat.  "Obi-Wan told me that you killed my father, and now you've killed him too."

            "Obi-wan... leave it to him to rescue a Jedi child," Vader muttered.  "Obi-Wan and your father were weak men who deserved to die.  The Emperor knows true power and is not afraid to use it.  And he will teach you to use it too."

            "Obi-Wan said you were bad," Luke said, righteously indignant.  "You kill people sometimes for what I can tell is no good reason.  It is wrong to use power to do that."

            "What is your name?" Vader asked, exasperated with Luke's stubbornness.  "I cannot call you boy forever."

            "What does it matter?" Luke asked, genuinely curious.  "If you're just going to execute me, do you then need it to fill in the 'name' blank on you records of the execution?"

            "Will you throw away being the Emperor's heir?" Vader asked.  "You have the powers needed to rule.  Will you refuse the throne of the Empire, and all that it can bring you?  Riches, power, the freedom to do as you please."

            "I have no need of money," Luke said.  "The Rebel Alliance does not exactly pay well.  All I want is to fly, and maybe some female companionship, and that the Rebellion does provide."

            "You have not met a real woman, boy," Vader said.  "I will take you to the Summer Palace on Malastare so that you can see the grandeur of the court that could be yours.  But I must know your name.  You cannot be presented to the Emperor and be called 'boy'."

            The command tone of Vader's voice shook Luke.  "I'm Luke Skywalker," he muttered sullenly.

            Vader drew back abruptly and left Luke's cell.  Luke curled up, sniffling softly into the collar of his orange flightsuit.  He snuggled down into the orange suit, drawing comfort from the familiarity of it.

            Luke could feel the thrumming of the deck plates that indicated hyperspace.  He was headed for the Emperor's court on Malastare.  Above all else, he must not reveal the secrets of the Rebels, no matter how the Emperor bribed him.  He had the poison implanted in the transmitter.  If there was no hope of escape, he had to die by his own hand.

            For Luke, the waiting was horrible.  Luke dreamed of the wild parties back on base.  He thought of Wedge and all the nights that he'd spent with the Rogues in various cantinas.  If he did not concentrate on better times, Luke knew that he'd surely go mad from the waiting.  Whatever happened at the Emperor's palace, no matter how horrible, at least he wouldn't be dreading it anymore.

            After three days of sleeping on the hard ledge in the cell, Luke felt the distinctive shudder of a ship coming out of hyperspace.  Malastare.  The waiting was over.  Now his trial by temptation would begin.  Vader appeared again in the door of his cell, this time with an escort of three stormtroopers.  They led Luke to a hangar bay and up the boarding ramp of a Lambda-class shuttle.

            "Do you want to fly the ship?" Vader asked.  "We'll let you fly down to the landing pad as long as you don't try any funny stuff."  The stormtroopers guarding Luke brought their blaster rifles up to make clear the punishment for _funny stuff_.

            "This is a tub next to my X-wing," Luke said, sticking his nose up in the air and putting on a distinctly snotty air. "It's not worth my skill."  He was hoping to goad Vader into attacking him, but it failed.

            "When you're fully trained, you'll be given a TIE advanced," Vader said.  "Far better than one of those jury-rigged X-Wings, and far safer."

            Luke turned aside.  He liked his X-wing, and Vader had in a very few words demeaned Luke's faithful snubfighter.  He looked out the viewport.  Below, the spires of the Summer Palace glittered.  An X-wing amd a TIE fighter sat on one of the landing pads.  The X-wing was his, probably.  Vader must intend for him to give a demonstration of his piloting skills.

            When the shuttle landed, Luke was led to a comfortable apartment in the Palace.  Windows overlooked a courtyard filled with fountains and water gardens.

            "Prepare yourself for tonight's celebrations," Vader commanded.  "Clothes have been left for you.  If you do not dress yourself, I will have to dress you.  But you _will not_ appear before the Emperor in that Rebel suit.  It does not befit the man who will be the prince of the Empire."

            Luke sat down on the huge bed with a sigh as soon as Vader left.  The bed was large, carved from black stone.  The four posts were carved to resemble fantastic dragons with blue and green gemstone eyes.  Luke had the uncomfortable feeling that those eyes were watching him.

            Luke looked at the clothes that had been laid out on the bed.  It was a prince's suit.  The pants and tunic were lined with silk.  The jacket was made from fine, supple leather, as were the boots.  The crowning glory was the long black cape.  The flowing black velvet garment like Vader's was lined with deep blue silk.

            Luke reverently stroked the soft cloth.  He looked around for a 'fresher.  If he was trapped here, he might as well try to make the best of it.  Luke strolled into the small cubicle and peeled off the filthy flightsuit along with the sweaty uniform beneath.

            After a shower, Luke felt much better.  He slipped on the black silk shorts that had been left.  The cloth felt nice on the sensitive skin there.  Then he put on the black pants and the deep blue shirt.

            The shirt clung closer than Luke would have liked.  It showed off the muscles that had developed from long training with his father's lightsaber.  His father's 'saber...that Vader had taken from Luke.  If only he could somehow get it back.  Maybe, if Luke was lucky, Vader would have it with him when he came to collect Luke.

            Luke finished dressing, strapping on the belt and pulling up the boots.  He debated whether to wear the black leather jacket, since he would be wearing the heavy velvet cape.  Luke decided that the jacket was probably a good idea.  He didn't want to risk the anger of either the Emperor or Darth Vader.

            Last came the crowning glory of Luke's outfit, the sweeping black velvet cape with its blue silk lining.  Luke looked in the mirror.  The shy farmboy who usually looked back at him was gone.  A prince stared back at him.

            Luke turned away from the mirror.  He was Luke Skywalker, leader of Rogue Squadron, Rebel hero, and child of Tatooine, not some prince.

            He watched the red ball of Malastare's sun sink into the horizon.  It cast bloody hues across the flowing surface of the water gardens below.  Luke ached for the companionship of Wedge and Hobbie.  The fiery hue of the sunset  called to mind the rich red of the local liquor on the world where the Alliance was currently based.  And that drove Luke back to thoughts of Wedge, Tycho and the other Rogues, with whom he'd shared many bottles of the stuff.

            Soon, Vader would arrive and bring him before the Emperor.  Until then, Luke sank into his fantasy world, daydreaming of his noble Jedi father.  As Luke thought this, the door slid open and Vader entered.

            "Are you ready for the party, young Skywalker?"  Vader asked, his tone suggesting that he expected defiance.

            "I am ready,"  Luke said, emerging from the bedroom in his borrowed finery.

            Vader turned toward Luke and stared at the slim boy for a long moment.  Luke fidgeted nervously.

            "Come,"  Vader said, beckoning for Luke to follow him.

            Luke followed, his eyes darting around the rooms and corridors looking for a means of escape, but finding none.  Five stormtroopers surrounded him at all times.  If he could grab his lightsaber from Vader's belt, he might have a chance.  But Luke had no illusions about Vader's watchfulness.  There was no way that he could take the lightsaber from Vader.

            His father's 'saber was taken by his father's murderer; the thought of it made Luke angry.  He needed his lightsaber back.  It was all Luke had of his long-dead Jedi father.

            "Come this way,"  Vader said, opening a huge bronze door, inlaid with lapis-skinned stone sculptures of slave girls.  The door opened onto a vaulted black room with huge windows made up of thousands of panes of colored transparisteel.  Humans from thousands of worlds appeared in full court finery.

            Vader placed a hand on Luke's shoulder and walked Luke to the dais at the back of the room.  A huge black basalt throne rested there, carved in the shape of a dragonlike lizard.  The eyes of the dragon were carved from some sparkling red crystal, giving them the appearance of malevolent life.

            Beneath the dragon's head sat the shrunken figure of the Emperor.  His gray, shriveled face peered at Luke from within the voluminous folds of his black hood.  Luke drew back in revulsion from the twisted figure.

            "Lord Vader tells me that you are reluctant to join us,"  Palpatine rasped out.  "Perhaps I can persuade you otherwise.  After all, I am in need of an heir.  One who is capable of bearing the powers that I have borne alone for so long."

            Palpatine gestured with a withered hand, and a jeweled concubine came forward.  She carried a wooden box in her ringed hands.  At another gesture, the concubine placed the box into Palpatine's hands before turning to leave.

            The box opened beneath the wrinkled hands of the Emperor.  Inside, heavy jewelry of a myriad of stones and metals glittered.  Some were made from glittering red gems and gold metal; those Palpatine removed from the box.

            "Come closer, young Skywalker,"  Palpatine called, beckoning.

            Luke walked forward, unsure of his fate but certain that refusal would result in punishment.  The Emperor fastened an elaborate chain of gold and rubies around Luke's throat.  The weight of the jewels pressed heavily against his shoulders.  Luke looked down at himself as Palpatine slid a ring onto his right hand.  In appearance, he had become a prince, the Emperor's heir.

            Palpatine shut the box with a sharp click.  "You see, boy?  You could live the best life in the galaxy here.  It feels nice, doesn't it, to have decent clothes and be surrounded by beauty?"

            Luke made a small, strangled sound.  What he ached for was the companionship of Han and Leia, Wedge and Hobbie.  He shook his head slowly, hoping that this truthful reply would not get him into even more trouble.  Every time Vader or Palpatine asked him to join them, their flattery bore a distinct undercurrent that suggested that if he refused he would be summarily executed.

            "So it is female company that you want," Palpatine said slowly, a lecherous smile crossing his lips.  He turned toward the cluster of concubines gathered nearby.  "Mara, come here."

            Slowly, a red-haired girl emerged from the crowd.  She wore a black skintight suit under a filmy white tunic and green skirt with high side slits.  Her only jewelry was a simple emerald pendant and some jade beads braided into her hair.

            Luke gazed at her, unable to believe the vision of beauty that stood before him.  Her delicate face was beautiful, and her eyes were the same shade as her pendant.

            "Go, Mara,"  Palpatine said.  "Take him back to his bedchamber and show him what else he might have if he should become my heir.  A wife and concubines to befit that station."

            Luke saw a hint of fear flick across Mara's delicate face.  He realized that she was no older than he was, and most likely inexperienced in such things.

            "Give this to him," Vader said, holding out Luke's lightsaber to the girl.  "A bribe,if you will.  He prizes this, his weakling father's lightsaber.  It will help you."

            Mara slowly led Luke from the throne room and back to the apartment where Vader had left him earlier.  Once inside, Mara handed the lightsaber back to Luke.

            "That was a rotten trick,"  Mara said, "to use something so important to you for blackmail.  I'm not going to force you."

            She was not going to force Luke.  But Mara's eyes held a distinct challenge.  The way that she carried herself showed off her curves and her delicate beauty.  Slowly, Luke walked over to her and kissed Mara's pouting lips.  

            Common sense screamed at Luke to stop.  He was kissing an Imperial agent, of that he had no doubt.  This Mara was almost certainly trained to deal with him should he try to escape while with her.  From every point of view, this was a bad idea.

            Mara smiled inwardly as she felt the shy boy's lips meet hers.  He was handsome, there was no denying that.  Mara hoped that the boy would stay to learn more about the Force.  Palpatine seemed willing that she should cultivate a relationship with this Luke.  They would make an excellent team someday, if he decided to stay.

            Briefly, Mara pictured herself as Queen, sharing the dragon throne with this Luke.  But Vader and the Emperor could both become cruel and cold in an instant.  Would Luke become the same?  Mara hoped not.  Palpatine was kind and gentle with her, even when he had trained her.

            She knew that she was being kept virgin so that when the Emperor located a suitable Force-sensitive man, she might bear a powerful child.  That Palpatine's chosen father for this child should be so handsome was unexpected.

            "Wait," Mara said, drawing away from Luke.  "The Emperor is fickle in his wants.  He may decide to separate us later.  I want to give you something to remember you by if that does happen."

            Mara unbraided the strands of her hair.  As she undid the tiny braids, she pulled free the carved jade beads.  After Mara had a pile of beads, she began to string them on a ribbon that she had worn in one of the braids.  She knotted the ends together, prouducing a jade-beaded necklace.  Mara held it out to Luke.

            Luke smiled.  "Thank you.  I will treasure this," he said.  Luke took off the ruby collar that Palpatine had placed around his neck and replaced it with the string of green beads.  Slowly, shyly, Luke took off the flowing cape and jacket.

            Mara responded with a smile and pulled Luke into the bedroom.  Luke wanted this, she knew.  If this would persuade him to stay, Mara would be glad.  It would be nice to have a companion of her own age around.

            Luke would have loved to stay, purely to get to know this red-headed witch better.  Back on base, there were few women of his own age.  The Alliance employed orphans of fourteen or fifteen as cooks and gophers.  They were valuable assistants, but the hero worship of the girls was not to Luke's taste.  Older women treated him like a precocious child, and if he tried to get any romantic interest out of them, they were condescending.

            Leia was the only female Rebel Luke's age.  And Leia seemed to vacillate between Luke and Han, unable to decide between them.  They always ended up competing for her attention.  But this Mara wanted him—no other men, no hero-worship, no head-patting.  Luke went willingly.

            With a start, Luke woke up.  He looked around for Wedge and the other Rogues with whom he shared a dormitory before his circumstances registered.  He was in the Summer Palace, in the arms of an Imperial courtier.  Luke extracted himself from Mara's arm and went to grab his clothes and run while she was still asleep.  But Mara's face drew him back for another look.

            _Sith! _Luke thought.  _I can't be in love with her, not here, not now, not with her!  So why do I worry about how she will be punished when I escape?  Loving her would be a betrayal of all that I hold important.  I vow that I will return for her, one day, once the Empire has fallen._

            This was a golden opportunity.  Luke had no doubt that the girl had been trained to fight.  Otherwise, he would never have been left alone with her.

            But this Mara was asleep.  Luke grabbed some clothes, putting on the silks of a prince before hiding his flightsuit and helmet beneath the cape.  He fled the apartment and headed for the launch pads.  He found the X-wing fueled and ready, next to a shuttle and TIE Advanced.  Luke opened the access hatch on the TIE and grabbed a power coupling out of the hyperdrive.  He took the power coupling back to the X-wing to replace the burned-out one.

            To finish the job, Luke took out his lightsaber and plunged the ice-blue blade into the sublight engines of the shuttle and the TIE.   Luke pulled on the orange flightsuit before vaulting into the X-wing cockpit with a neat flip off the blaster cannon.  A clean escape was far more than Luke had hoped for.  But Mara had given it to him.

            When the X-wing took off and successfully entered hyperspace, Luke breathed easier.  He was alive and free.  Luke's thoughts turned to Leia.  He and Han had been competing for the Princess' favor.  Perhaps if he wore the clothes of a prince that Vader had given him, Leia might favor him over Han.

            Luke set a zigzag course through several jumps, ending at Tatooine before jumping to the base on Hoth.  As the X-wing landed, several of the Rebel pilots ran out of the hangars, followed by various other Alliance personnel.

            Wedge hung a ladder on Luke's cockpit.  Luke gladly climbed down and hugged Wedge, glad that his friend had survived.

            "Wedge, am I ever glad to see you," Luke said, feeling the familiar embrace of his friend.  "I thought that the Imps would execute me for sure."

            As Luke began to remove his flightsuit, Wedge gasped.  "Luke, your clothes!  Where did you get those?"

            "The Emperor wanted me to join him.  He offered me riches, women and power.  He knew about my father, about my Jedi heritage and my powers.  He offered to train me in the user of the Force, and then he offered to make me his heir."

            Wedge whistled.  "And you came back here?"

            "I missed you.  Besides, I don't want to be taught by someone evil enough to order the destruction of an entire world on a whim.  Even if I never learn to use my powers to their full extent, I never want to become like the Emperor and Vader.  Their power feeds off death and destruction."

            Wedge snorted.  "The Emperor has done enough damage as it is.  I can't imagine trying to defeat the Empire if they had your powers on their side."

            General Rieekan walked over to Luke, beaming.  "Glad to see you back, Commander.  We were all worried."  He noted the velvet cape flung over the seat of Luke's X-wing.  "I see that the Imperials tried to buy your loyalty with gifts.  You're smart, Commander, to take the bribes and run out on them."

            "General, can I speak to you in private?"  Luke asked.

            "Certainly, Commander," Rieekan said.  "Come with me." He led Luke to a small office near the main hangar.  "Now.  What's bothering you?"

            Luke sighed.  "You do believe that I didn't give in to Vader's promises, don't you?"

            Rieekan laughed.  "Luke, the Imperials would never have sent a spy back bearing all sorts of gifts.  You would have been sent back with nothing more than what you arrived with and a story about a miraculous escape.  I know you're not a spy, Luke."

            "There's something else,"  Luke said, almost timid.

            "Luke, you can tell me,"  Rieekan said, beginning to look worried.  "Whatever it is, I promise I won't condemn  you for it.  I know you must have thought about giving in to Vader and joining the Empire.  It's nothing to be ashamed of.  You made the right choice."

            "It's not that,"  Luke said, beginning to relax.  "There was a girl in the Emperor's court.  She was obviously trained as a fighter or assassin of some sort, but she was no older than I am.  The Emperor gave her my father's lightsaber to bribe me into her bed.  She didn't use it as a bribe.  Of her own free will, she gave it back to me."

            "You fell for her,"  Rieekan said, a friendly smile playing about his lips.

            "Yes,"  Luke replied.  "I felt like I was falling in love.  She seemed so small and gentle, too nice, for Palpatine's court.  She gave me this,"  Luke pulled the jade necklace out from his collar.  "She said that it would serve me to remember her by.  She let me escape."

            "Well, perhaps we will let her escape when we attack Coruscant.  If she is indeed sympathetic to the Alliance, she deserves at least that much,"  Rieekan said.

            Luke smiled.  "Thank you."

            "Hey," Rieekan said, in a conspiratorial whisper.  "Her Highness was worried about you.  Go get that black velvet cape and pay her a visit."

            Luke's smile broadened.  "Yes, that will score points for me with Leia.  She's always going on about how ragged Han is."

            "I can tell you this," Rieekan said.  "I served the House Organa in my youth, and I remember Bail.  Bail Organa would have chosen you to marry Leia.  You are… a Jedi and a hero.  More than suitable for a princess.  And I know that she misses the princes of her home."  Rieekan pressed his lips closed as though he had said too much.

            Luke nodded.  "I'll go see Leia."

            Leia was relaxing during some of her rare free time.  She was in her quarters, brushing out her hair and dreaming of the dashing princes of Alderaan.  Their courtly manners and fine velvets, with gleaming jewelry.   She could have loved one of them so easily.

            There was a knock on her door.  Leia stood, angry at the interruption, but when the door slid open, she gasped in shock.  It seemed as though one of the princes of her memory had found her.  And then he gave her a lopsided smile.

            With a jolt, Leia recognized him.  "Commander Skywalker—what—how…."

            "The Imperials caught me and tried to convince me to join them," Luke said with a shrug.  "I raided the closet and escaped."

            Leia laughed.  "You have no idea how worried I've been.  I'm afraid that I was rather sharp with Rieekan this morning.  I bet he sent you here to cheer me up before he has to deal with me again."

            Luke laughed and looked down at his finery.  "Yes, he did.  Rieekan said that you missed the princes of Alderaan in all of their formal wear."  Luke knelt at her feet.  "I don't have royal blood, at least that I know of.  But I do have the clothes, and I can pretend for a few hours.  Will you accept a substitute prince?"

            "Can you dance?"  Leia asked.

            Luke nodded.  "I may have grown up on Tatooine, but I'm not that much of a savage.  I can dance.  What kind of dance do you want?"

            "Slowdance,"  Leia replied.  "The music player is over there, and the chip is in it."

            Luke nodded again and walked over to key up the playback.  He held out his arms to her.  Leia swept into Luke's arms and rested her head on his shoulder.  She had never seen how handsome Luke was before.  He smiled at Leia, and she thought that she would melt.

            _Han wouldn't do this fore me, _Leia thought.  _He's just a crude… nerfherder!  But Luke… for a Tatooine farmboy, he isn't bad.  Sometimes you would think that Luke really was a prince from how he behaves.  But why do I still desire Han?_

            Leia convulsively hugged Luke tighter.  _I do not love Han!  _Leia shouted mentally.  _I want to love Luke, my prince of the sands.  So why does my mind keep straying back to that rogue of a Corellian?_

Luke felt Leia squeeze him.  He returned the squeeze halfheartedly.  _Leia is meant for me_, Luke thought.  _I'll never see that Mara girl again.  So why do I keep thinking about her green eyes?_


End file.
